


Rumbelle Secret Santa 2016: A Deal With A Stranger

by herstorybooks



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Bae, Dark One Belle, Deal, Fluff, Knight Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Magic, Rumbelle - Freeform, Rumbelle Secret Santa, Rumbelle Secret Santa 2016, Spinner Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, enchanted forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 16:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8923912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herstorybooks/pseuds/herstorybooks
Summary: Prompt: Dark!Belle, hope, magic, deal, knight.Whilst running away to protect his son being sent to the Ogre's war, Baelfire and Rumpelstiltskin bump (quite literally) into a beautiful stranger. She may be able to help them.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EmilieVitnux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilieVitnux/gifts).



The night was icy cold and the wind blew ferociously, causing windows and doors to bang in anger. However the banging of wood against stone was the last thing people were listening to.  The sound of hooves against the cobbled road caused everyone in the small village to hold their breaths and their spines to chill. As the horses neighed aggressively, every house hold stood still, waiting to see which house the horses would stop at. It was only a matter of time before the screams and begging came from the house next door. Another child had turned 14 and that now only meant one thing. It was that child’s time to leave home and join the Ogre’s War.  
Rumpelstiltskin lay in his bed, staring at the wall in front of him and counting the bricks it obtained.  In less than two days his son would turn 14, and young Baelfire would be sent away. He would be sent away from his home, his friends and away from his father. Rumpelstiltskin didn’t have a life outside his son. He had no friends and only one functioning leg. He ran away from the war when he had the chance to fight on his family’s behalf and that caused him to lose his wife. He had lost so much, all was left was the blessing that was his son and he was not ready to let go of him just yet. Rumple held his breath as he heard the horses ride away into the distance and listened to the family cry for the child they had just lost to this unforgiving war.  It was only a matter of time before it was his house the horses stopped outside of, his son that they carried away and his voice that screamed for them to return his son to him.  
Just as a tear was about to escape his eyes and trickle down his cheek, his bed covers began to rustle and a weight was placed beside him. For the first time since he was a young boy, his teenage son climbed into his papa’s cramped bed and cried. His papa wrapped his arm around his boy, and pulled him close to his chest.  
“They’re going to take me, Papa.”  
“Don’t you worry. We’ll find a way, son. We’ll find a way.”

It was barely the crack of dawn when Rumpelstiltskin was woken by the horse’s hooves as thy made their usual noise along the dusty path. Before the sound of the horses had even come to a stop, Rumpelstiltskin knew they had come for his boy. He wasn’t to turn 14 for another day, but since when did that stop the “brave” knights coming to collect their recruits. The thought of Bae being given weapons and armour that was too large for him, and pushed into battle made him feel sick. He was a boy, not a soldier and if he left he would surely die.  He had told his boy years ago that everything would be okay and they didn’t need his mother, Rumple would protect him, and damn it that was what he was going to do. Some would say it was the coward’s way out, Rumpelstiltskin saw it as a form of preservation, not for himself but for his boy.

He leapt out of bed, grabbed his cane and bae’s cloak. He rushed over towards Bae where he was sleeping and shook his shoulder forcefully.  
“Papa, what’s wrong?”  
“Shh!” Rumple hushed him. “It’s time to go, Son.” He whispered.  
“But…”  
“No time for that Bae. Please,” he pleaded. “We need to run.” Seeing the desperation in his father’s eyes was all it took to convince Bae to leap out of his bed, wrap himself in his cloak and run out of the back door. As Rumple followed Bae out of the door, he heard the knock on the door. He would never forget that knock. It was not harsh or threatening, it was casual and relaxed. Were they trying to trick him to come to the door and snatch his son underneath his nose before he even realised what was happening? Before they had time to knock a second time, Rumple fled out of the door.

The door shut quietly behind them and they took no time to rest as they scurried into the thick woods behind their house. With Rumple’s limp, they both knew they wouldn’t get far. However the love and determination to keep his son safe, forced the spinner to ignore the pain that shot up and down his mangled bones. As they hurried through leaves and branches, they could hear the commotion coming from the village behind them. They could hear the shouting of orders from the brutes that called themselves law enforcers.  
“Check the woods!” After hearing those words, Bae’s feet began to quicken their pace in a panicked sprint. He looked back to check to see his Papa was close by, but he was not, he was far behind.  
“Papa you need to hurry!” Whilst Bae looked behind him, his body hit something solid. He fell to the ground with a loud thud and heard his Papa yell his name.  

Bae looked out from under his fringe and saw a mountain of chestnut brown and light blue.  A woman stood above him with piercing blue eyes, ruby lips and elegant curled hair. A light blue cloak hung from her body and sat peacefully on top of her head. She was rather elegant and beautiful, but was not dressed for royalty at all. She was one of the most beautiful peasant girls Bae had ever seen. Whilst he was busy taking in this beauty, his father had finally caught up and collapsed by his son.  
“Bae, are you all right?” He gasped.  
“He seems a lot better than you.” The woman knelt down towards them and placed her hand on Rumple’s shoulder. It gave him a strange combination of both comfort and worry. “Who are you running from?” She asked, actually concerned. Before they had time to answer they heard the sound of horses frantically galloping towards their direction. Both Bae and Rumple looked up at the woman with the same helpless expression. “Quickly now,” She said to Bae. “Help me drag him behind this tree.”  Bae sprang into action and helped the woman drag his father off the muddied ground and behind a large oak tree.  Bae dropped his father to the ground, unable to hold his weight.  
“Careful now, do you want to break his other leg.” The woman laughed.  
“They’re going to see us.” Rumple panicked looking around the tree.  
“Shh!” The woman hissed. An odd feeling fell upon them as they all watched the soldiers and their horses sprint passed them and off further into the woods. When they were finally gone, Bae and Rumple both let out a breath they couldn’t even remember holding.

“Thank you.” Rumple said, not quit meeting the woman’s eye in embarrassment.  
“Yes thank you!” Bae on the other hand wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed her tightly.  The woman laughed at the boys embrace and ruffled his hair as he pulled back.  
“It’s no matter. Now, why are they after you?”  
“The Ogre’s War.” Bae said, “They want me to fight.” The women nodded and looked towards Rumple on the ground.  
“And you’re not happy about that idea?”  
“He’ll die!” Rumple said defensively, making Bae shift uncomfortably. “I mean… he could die. I’m not risking it.”  The woman stood there in silence for a few seconds, as if pondering on some thought.  
“I may be able to help you” Rumple’s desperate eyes lit up again. He knew he couldn’t protect his boy in this state. They barely made it out of the village without being caught. “But I can’t be helping you for nothing. Are you willing to do anything to protect your son? No matter the cost?”  
“Yes,” It took no time for Rumple to reply. “What do you want?” The woman simply smiled and held her delicate hand out.  
“You’ll simply ow me a favour. Do we have a deal?” Rumple stared at the woman’s hand; something didn’t feel right about this. But he would shake hands with the devil himself if it meant protecting his boy. He grabbed hold of her hand and shook it.  
“Deal.”

The second their hands touched, purple smoke surrounded the two adults. Bae stumbled back in shock and tried to shield his eyes from the dust that was picked up with the wind that was created. As he rubbed his eyes clean he was left with a new picture he hadn’t been expecting. The young pretty woman dressed in blue was now dressed in black and dark purple. Her eyes were now darker and her face sultry and mischievous. He notices how her sweet pink lips were now deep blood red, her skin still pale but with a slight golden shimmer as it hit the sunlight. However the main shock was not the mysterious woman, but was his papa. His old peasant rags had been replaced with golden shining armour that made him appear not only taller but with a more muscled build. The bags that permanently rested under his eyes disappeared, and that wasn’t the only thing that had disappeared. The mangled bone that resulted in his father’s limp was gone. Rumpelstiltskin now stood tall with confidence and with no difficulty.  
“Papa?”  
“Wh…What happened?” Rumpelstiltskin asked, now taking in the transformation both he and the woman had taken.  
“You can now protect your son.” She simply stated before flicking her wrist and disappearing in another cloud of purple smoke. Both Bae and his Papa looked at the empty space and then towards each other.  
“Who was that Papa?”  
“I don’t know Bae, but I think she helped.”

Bae lay on his bed, counting the bricks that made the wall. His Papa had rushed him home and told him to wait for him to return. Bae wasn’t sure if his father was going to come home, but he was strangely optimistic due to the confidence and ease as he walked Bae back to their home. He hadn’t heard any noise. He hadn’t heard screams or yelling. He heard gentle wind in the trees and the fire crackling in the corner. Bae counted down from 10, in hope that when he reached 0, his father would be home.  
“10, 9, 8…” Wind. Crackling fire. “7, 6, 5…” breath in. breath out. “4, 3, 2…” footsteps, creaking doors…  
“Bae, I’m home. It’s all okay, son. The war is over.”

**A YEAR LATER**

The night was cold and plenty of twinkling stars took place in the midnight sky. Rumpelstiltskin lay in bed fast asleep with his thick sheets and pillows hugging him and keeping him safe from the chill. However his peaceful slumber was interrupted by his son climbing into his bed beside him.  
“What’s wrong son?” Bae only ever climbed into his father’s bed when he was scared. After the Ogre’s War there would be the odd occasion when Bae would sneak into his father’s room. It was usually after a nightmare about being sent off to battle. However that was a year ago and there had been no nightmares for a while.  
“There’s a noise coming from the kitchen.” Bae whispered. The golden shining knight kicked into Rumpelstiltskin’s system when he heard the bangs and clatters from the room below him.  
“Stay here, Bae.”

He made his way down the long winding staircase, the noise of pots and pans falling to the floor becoming louder. He reached the large red door that opened to the kitchen and saw some sort of hooded character fussing around in the cupboards.  
“Who’s there, Papa?” Rumpelstiltskin jumped out of his skin, not realising his son had followed him. “Bae, what did I tell you?”  
“I was scared!” he argued. The hooded figure huffed and turned to acknowledge the bickering father and son standing in the doorway.  
“I haven’t cooked for over a decade! I haven’t made a cup of tea, cooked meat or poured orange juice! Snap of my fingers and boom! Food! Now look at me!” She spoke without a second of breath and completely flustered. The hooded figure standing frantically in their kitchen was the strange yet enchanting woman who had allowed the two to live in this grand new house; the woman who had made Rumpelstiltskin a knight. “Hello you two, my you have both grown.”  
“What are you doing here?” Rumpelstiltskin said with wide eyes in defence.    
“Well that’s just charming! How about hello? Actually no! How about you help me make a cup of tea! The journey here was less than enjoyable and I am rather chilly.”  Bae looked down towards the woman’s hands and saw the bright pink colour the skin had become. He ran towards the woman, ignoring his father’s hands holding him back.  
“Bae!”  
“Papa she’s so cold to the bone!” It was then Rumpelstiltskin noticed the frostbite pink on the woman’s nose and cheeks. He sighed after looking into his boy’s eyes. He was defeated.  
“Sit down. I’ll make the tea.” With a shocked however touched smile, the woman followed Bae towards their large dinner table in the next room.

Bae pulled out the largest and grandest chair at the table and motioned for the woman to sit down. She followed the boy’s instructions with a smile and watched as he scampered down towards a large fire place and began to light the kindle. The orange flames began to dance and the woman was grateful for their intense warmth. A big cup of tea was then placed in front of her; she took no time in wrapping her hands around the warm cup. She lifted it to her face and sighed with content as the steam wrapped around her face. “Now, would you mind telling us why you are here?”  
“Papa!” Bae whispered from the floor in protest.  “Don’t you think we should thank her first? She did help us! And without her you wouldn’t have been made into a knight!” The woman laughed at the young boy and looked at the father under her hooded lashes. Rumple let out a defeated sigh.  
“Yes Bae. Thank you whoever you are. But I would appreciate it if you would tell me why you have broken into our kitchen.”  The woman nodded and placed her hot cup onto the table in front of her.  
“Well.” She began, placing her hands in her lap.  “Have either of you heard of The Dark One?” Both boys stiffened. Everyone had heard of The Dark One. Hardly anyone had laid their eyes upon the being, but the legend says they stay hidden in the shadows practising dark magic. That they only reveal themselves desperate enough to even consider making a deal with the so called monster. The woman took note on her host’s new straight posture. “I guess you have. Well, not many have seen The Dark One, yet somehow the rumour is that they are a man! Which is so typical, of course only a man could be that powerful! Do you know how many years I’ve tried to banish that rumour? I mean look at me! I’m not that masculine am I? ” The woman then lifted her hand to her mouth, realising her slip of the tongue. Rumpelstiltskin stared at the woman, wanting to ask but not having the courage.  
“Are _you_ the Dark One?” Bae asked always the blunt child he is. Giggling cheekily behind her hand the woman nodded.  
“Yes, but you have no reason to be worried, my dear. I currently am magicless thanks to a certain cretin under the name of The Evil Queen.” Rumpelstiltskin tried to force his shoulders to relax at knowing he and his son were now safe from dark magic, but they still remained tight at his ears. He had heard of the Evil Queen. Thanks to the many balls he had attended in the past year, he had gotten to know Queen Snow and King Charming rather well. They often mentioned all their problems with this Evil Queen, also known as Regina.  
“Ah yes, Regina. She’s been causing Snow White and Charming quite a lot of trouble recently.”  
“Well recently me and her haven’t been seeing eye to eye either.” She lifted her wrist to show a gold cuff.  
“What’s that?” Bae asked with wide curious eyes.  
“This would be the reason I cannot use my magic! She tricked me and placed this on my arm. No one but her can take it off, so I am powerless.” She said with a huff. She lifted up her cup and leaned back into her chair to indicate that her story had finished. Both Bae and Rumpelstiltskin looked at each other then back to the woman in her chair.  
“That’s a fascinating story miss…Dark One.” Rumpelstiltskin said. “But you still fail to tell us how that has led you here?” She leapt forward in her seat.  
“Oh yes! How silly of me. Well you may have remembered that a year ago I helped you out of a certain predicament.”  
“Yes, we do.” Bae chirped proudly.  
“Well, part of that deal meant you owing me a favour.”  
“And you’re cashing in so to speak.” Rumple said now with clarity.  
“Yes I am. Now listen carefully dears. I need somewhere to hide whilst I figure out how to get this contraption off my wrist. And that is where you come in. No one must know I’m here. I have made many enemies in my years and a lot of them would not hesitate at getting revenge now I have no magic. You have a rather large estate and I imagine a room somewhere, it seems ideal don’t you think?”  
“She can stay here can’t she, papa!” Bae said excitedly.  
“It seems we don’t have a choice. And as luck has it, we are in need of a maid.”  
“A maid?” the woman said in horror, however then her expression softened. “Actually that may work. No one ever suspects the help to be a powerful sorcerer. But it is important no one finds out who I really am. If you ever have company you must treat me as if I really was your maid.” Rumpelstiltskin nodded, shocked at how much the woman could say in one sentence without breathing.

“ _This?_ This is my room?” after sending Bae back to his bed, Rumpelstiltskin showed The Dark One down the brick stairs and to a small room at the bottom.  
“What’s wrong with it?” Rumpelstiltskin asked defensively.  
“It’s bare!” the room consisted of the essentials. There was a bed with sheets and a pillow, a table with draws and a chair. However there was a grand and elegant mirror propped up in the corner.  
“What were you expecting?” he asked with a huff and confusion.  
“I don’t know… something grander?”  
“Well you did say treat you like any other maid we had.” She shot him a look that communicated all forms of attitude.  
“Well, I feel sorry for any of your staff.” She walked into her new room and knelt down to study the mirror and the carvings around it. Rumpelstiltskin just shook his head and followed her in. he watched her curiously as she lifted herself up and walked towards the table and chair.  
“It’s a beautiful mirror isn’t it? Sadly we couldn’t find anywhere to put it.” His short rambling was interrupted by the woman lifting the chair and throwing it into the mirror, shattering it into pieces. “What the hell was that?” he yelled.  
“I’m not having her watching me! She’s clever like that.” She said rubbing her hands clean. Again baffled and confused, he shook his head and turned to leave.  
“Have a good sleep and try not to break anything.”  

When Rumpelstiltskin awoke for the second time in that 24 hour period, he had almost forgotten that they were harbouring The Dark One in the lower bedroom. When he walked downstairs he didn’t expect to find Bae and their new guest to be sitting underneath the dining room table. They hadn’t seemed to have noticed their presence. Bae was too busy telling their guest his favourite stories.  
“Then what happened?” the woman asked.    
“Papa strode to the front of the battle-line and slayed all the ogres single handed! Then he bought all the children back to their families. He was so brave!”  
“Wow! That’s quite a story Baelfire.”  
“It’s my favourite!” the boy beamed with pride for his father and didn’t mind showing it. “Belle?”  
who was belle?  
“Yes, Baelfire.”  Well apparently that was The Dark One’s true name. Belle? How oddly fitting. It shouldn’t have suited someone with such dark power, but beauty described the woman very easily.  
“Can you tell me about magic?” he whispered.  
“Well I would, but I’m not sure if our father would approve… but go on then.” Bea practically jumped up and down on his knees. “Well, magic can do many things. It can make you sleep, it can transform you to many different realms, and it can even make someone think they love you. But magic does have its limitations. It cannot bring back the dead and it cannot make someone love you.” Bae’s face became confused.  
“But you said…”  
“No my dear Baelfire; you must listen. Magic can make someone _think_ they love you, but it can’t make them actually love you. True love is far too complicated to become artificial.”  
“Have you ever been in love, Belle?” Belle stiffened her spine and her face went cold.  
“No my dear, I haven’t. I thought I had once but it turned out he was worse than a beast.” She smile sadly and looked down into her lap and got lost in wonder. After a second or so she smiled brightly and looked up. “Anyhow, how about you teach me how to make some breakfast? It’s been a while since I cooked.”  
“okay!” the two scurried from underneath the table and made disappeared into the kitchen. Rumpelstiltskin stood back from the door he was hiding behind and decided to go back to his room and to give Bae and Belle some more time alone together. It was nice to see Bae interacting with someone other than himself. Bae was a happy boy full of personality, however he was also shy. He didn’t have a large number of friends his age. It was nice to see him come out of his shell and show someone else who he really was.

The second time Rumpelstiltskin came down the stairs, he found Bae and Belle covered in butter and splashed of egg white. They presented him with eggs in a basket; Bae must have told Belle it was his favourite.  
“Look Papa! I taught Belle to cook!”  
“I already knew how to cook, my dear. I just needed a bit of a reminder.” She quipped back.  
“Well this looks lovely. However someone is going to have to clean this up. If only we had a maid?” Rumpelstiltskin cheekily hinted at Belle, who rolled her eyes.  
“Fine.” She flicked her wrist expecting blue smoke to surround the kitchen and clean up her mess, however was disappointed when nothing happened. For a brief moment Belle had forgotten that she no longer had magic, and it was an awful shock of a reminder. Belle’s face began to get red as the annoyance and sadness built up inside of her  
“Are you okay Belle?” Bae asked.  
“Yes.” Belle said rather harshly. “I just have better things to be doing. Like trying to get this damn thing off my wrist!” she stormed off out of the kitchen and back down to her room below. Both the boys stared as she walked away.  
“Papa, go after her!”  
“What? Why would I do that?”  
“she’s upset!”  
“Bae she is also The Dark One. We’ve both heard the stories…”  
“That’s all they are Papa! Stories! She’s upset, go talk to her!” Rumpelstiltskin sighed in defeat, again. How did Bae manage to get him to do these things?

He walked into the room to find Belle sat on her bed surrounded by a mountain of books.  
“Belle, are you okay?”  
“Yes of course.” She said not looking up from her books. Rumpel stood there swaying awkwardly whilst Belle tried to pretend he wasn’t there and read her book. It wasn’t long before a small sniffle came from belle as she began to fail at holding back her tears of frustration.  
“Belle…”  
“I’ve haven’t felt this vulnerable in years.” She looked up with bloodshot eyes and tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. The sadness her face could communicate was never told in the horror stories over the years. He sat down beside her.  
“You’re scared?”  
“Yes.” She said shamefully. “I can’t remember how I used to live without my magic. If anyone finds me, I’m good as dead.” Rumpel sighed and placed his hand on-top of her.  
“Me and Bae, we will protect you.”    

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it my love! In the past i normally write a full fic with a conclusion at the end. but this year has been a very busy for your dear Santa and i just wouldn't be able to write that much. I hope you like what i have written you tough. mwa! Merry Christmas! <3


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